Baltimore Batters Beckett, BoSox: Orioles 5, Red Sox 4

Bullpen, Scott pitch in to lift O's
Johnson, Sherrill hold off Boston; DH hits 3-run HR

By Jeff Zrebiec Sun reporter

It was about the toughest spot possible for any reliever, never mind a 24-year-old converted starter who began the season at Triple-A Norfolk.

When Jim Johnson entered the game in the seventh inning last night with the Orioles clinging tight to a two-run lead, the Boston Red Sox had the bases loaded and no outs with Manny Ramirez at the plate. Johnson never blinked.

He finalized a tense 10-pitch at-bat by getting Ramirez to hit into a double play and then retired Mike Lowell to end the inning with the Orioles' two-run lead intact. Johnson's escape was the final improbability on a night full of them for the Orioles, who got a three-run home run from slumping Luke Scott and a five-out save from George Sherrill in a hard-earned 5-4 victory over the Red Sox before an announced 38,768 at Camden Yards.

"[Johnson] worked a pitching miracle, right there," said Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie. "He didn't give into him. He executed an awful lot of pitches. That's the thing that's so difficult. He didn't throw three or four pitches and get a comebacker. He threw nine or 10 probably and he executed every single one of them exactly how he wanted to. ... He did stuff that I don't think any of us could have expected."

So did several other Orioles, who started a five-game homestand with one of the most gratifying wins of the season, and knocked the Red Sox out of first place in the American League East in the process. The Tampa Bay Rays' victory over the New York Yankees last night makes them the surprise leader in the division, while the Orioles (20-19) are in third place, three games back.

"It's a new team, a better team," said first baseman Kevin Millar, who was the star in a post-game video on the scoreboard that featured several players performing to the 'Orioles Magic' song. "We're better than people think."

Before the Orioles' first at-bat, they had already lost third baseman Melvin Mora, who bruised his right shoulder when he was the victim of a tough hop in batting practice. They also entered the game knowing catcher Ramon Hernandez was unavailable with a sore left wrist. And then Guthrie, in his duel with Boston ace Josh Beckett, went out and surrendered three first-inning runs, thanks in part to two Orioles errors.

Guthrie settled down to go six gritty innings and the Orioles' offense, which was held to two hits on Sunday in Kansas City, broke out against Beckett, pounding the ace for five earned runs and 11 hits over 5 2/3 innings. All of the Orioles' runs came on two-out hits.With the Orioles trailing 3-2 with two outs in the third, Scott drove Beckett's 1-0 fastball into the right-field seats for a three-run home run. Scott entered the game in a 7-for-55 slump, with just one extra-base hit since April 18 and homerless since April 8.

"I'll tell you man, that feeling, there's nothing like it," said Scott, who was 3-for-4. "It's the greatest high that you can have. ... That's what makes this game so worth it -- moments like that. ... I'm just so thankful and very grateful for today. It was a good day for the team, [and a] good day for me personally."

With the Orioles still leading by two runs in the seventh, Guthrie (2-3) gave up consecutive singles to Sean Casey and Dustin Pedroia, and then was removed by manager Dave Trembley, who brought in left-handed reliever Jamie Walker to face David Ortiz. Walker walked him to load the bases.

That's when Johnson entered. Ramirez, who is just two home runs shy of 500 for his career, kept spoiling good pitches by fouling them off. However, on the tenth pitch of the at-bat, all Ramirez could do with Johnson's 2-2 fastball in on his hands was hit a ball back to the mound. Johnson fielded it, threw home for the first out and then catcher Guillermo Quiroz fired to first for the double play.

"We're just trying to get the double play," said Johnson, who has given up just three earned runs in 22 2/3 innings this season. "Obviously, with Manny at the plate, it kind of changes things, but you've got to trust yourself and try to make good pitches. ... Giving up no runs is an unlikely scenario in that situation."

Johnson got the first out in the eighth, but proceeded to walk the next two batters and then gave up an RBI single to Alex Cora, who made the score 5-4. Trembley brought in Sherrill and asked the closer to get more than three outs for just the second time all year.

In the ninth, Sherrill struck out Ortiz on a 3-2 pitch in which home plate umpire Laz Diaz ruled that the Red Sox slugger, who tried to check his swing, had gone around. Ortiz was ejected for arguing the call. Sherrill then retired Ramirez on a flyout and struck out Lowell to end the game.

"I guess you start with Guthrie. He kind of epitomizes what tonight was all about for us," Trembley said. "I think it says something about our team, the way the guys came back against obviously one of the better pitchers in baseball. We had to work for it. We had to earn it. But I think everybody learned a little more about the Baltimore Orioles tonight."